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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Making a Sideyard Garden and Sitting Area

The delightful bluebells in the header at Bluebell Woods reminded me of garden planning. That in turn reminded me of my 'side garden' which started as a labour of love, to take approximately 10 x 20 feet of space and make it work as a path/sitting area/garden/access to the meter etc. I started to do the work myself but the darn cement patio pavers were beyond my strength. Blessed be my next door neighbour. Strong, good at planning, tenacious, strong (did I mention strong).

The first picture was taken after we had done our best to clean the area up (it used to have a shed against the house - boy what that ever a tough job to take apart and move the construction materials, let alone the contents. We had built that shed about 28 years prior to the start of 'making' this garden area and it became our 'storage area' for lumber, cement blocks, anything we wanted to put out of sight. This area started to be cleaned up in 2007 and the final picture in this post is from 2009. The tar paper path was from the 'building the backyard big sheds' time (another huge undertaking).

So much soil had to be moved to the back corner of the backyard from this area. Then as you can see black garden cloth, navy jack, then sand was spread before the brick pavers were positioned.

When that job was finished larger sized gravel was added (as well as black garden cloth to control the weeds along the borders. I hauled in bricks for edgers as well as 2x4's. We brought in topsoil and I planted bulbs and perennials. Weeds grew very well in this area too, especially buttercups.

I loved this garden area when it was finished. It doesn't look quite as tidy today (take a look at the earlier 'yard walk' post) and I know I will need to be out cleaning out the weeds and dead undergrowth in the flower bed and the weeds that came up between and beside the walkway, but it has made a very convenient area for moving between the front and back yards, a place to sit (hide out) on a hot day (shady side of house). It makes me happy.

It's great to take an unused area of the yard and make it into something lovely! It's kind of frustrating when you can't do the heavier stuff yourself anymore but I'm learning to accept that. I'm just as grateful when a strong neighbour pitches in! ~ Maureen

That is so pretty! I was just out in my garden. Our winter has been so mild that the grass is even turning green ...well little sprigs here and there. Snow is really melting. Almost like spring out there!

Wow! What a beautiful way to awaken your side yard! It turned out fab! A project never seems like it will be that hard until you start working on it! We did this to one of our side yards, and it was quite a job!

And what a blog party you have going on! I will have to join in one day too : )Hugs,Terri

Just found you on the linky followers blog hop and now I am looking forward to following you:) I so love what you did in the little garden area, even if you never get to sit there, its nice to see as you walk by:) Please hop over and check out my blog and follow back.

Hi I am now following you and found you on the linky follower hop! I invite you to follow me over at Hibiscus House, I would love to have you. I can tell I am going to enjoy your posts. Wow that was a lot of hard work but it is beautiful!Sincerely,Dollyhttp://hibiscushouse1.blogspot.com/

Hello, wonderful, wonderful job! It is wonderful reclaiming a spot in one's garden. I can imagine this being a lovely tranquil space for you to enjoy. Thank you for sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,Kathy

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Hello from Joy

An ever expanding collection of beautiful and vintage items started my small business in a beautiful space in an antiques and collectibles mall called Village Antiques Mall in Fort Langley, BC. My booth space is called "A Vintage Green".